The E7 impressed us at the recent Nokia World conference. Although marketed as a business device, it looked like a Qwerty smart phone worthy of anybody's attention. Unfortunately, you may have to wait until next year to buy it.

The retailer might have it wrong, but generally it puts a date before the actual release, rather than after. Information on the E7 has been put up online on the Nokia website, which suggested a release was imminent. The word was the E7 would be ready for release before the end of the year, so this will be a delay.

Compare and contrast this to the release of another Qwerty smart phone, the HTC Desire Z. The Nokia and HTC launch events were held at exactly the same time, but we're going to see the Desire Z phone early next month. The largely positive buzz over the E7 will be forgotten come January.

Nokia is making quite a habit of this. The wait between the first sighting and still-to-come release of N8 has been interminable. It was even delayed a couple of weeks after we should have expected the smart phone, which was right at the end of September.

What do you think about having to wait for the E7 this long? Do you think Nokia has shot itself in the foot? Your insightful and erudite comments are always welcome.